Fire Torches SF Building Planned for America’s Cup

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco firefighters battled a four-alarm fire June 20 that caused more than $2 million in damages to a building in an area of the city’s waterfront that will host the America’s Cup yacht race next year.

The building on Pier 29 was vacant, but there were some cars parked in the structure when the fire broke out around 1:50 p.m., said San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge.

No injuries were reported.

America’s Cup organizers issued a statement saying they did not expect the fire to have any impact on their plans for the site.

“We look forward to moving ahead with the future construction of the America’s Cup Village at Pier 27/29,” they said.

Pier 29 was not yet under development by America’s Cup and was still under the control of the city, the Port of San Francisco and their contractor, Turner Construction Co., the statement said.

The pier was built in 1915 and the building has about 115,000 square feet of warehouse space.

Talmadge told the San Francisco Chronicle that investigators were still trying to determine what caused the fire, but that it doesn’t appear suspicious.